Beer Review - 21st Amendment Fireside Chat

Well, it's cold out there so I thought it would be another good idea to drink a beer that would hopefully help warm me up. This time I decided to grab a pack of 21st Amendment's Fireside Chat. I had seen this beer on the shelves a few times and had been wanting to grab it for awhile, so I finally did.

Let's discuss: This beer pours a dark brown color with a brown head. Smell is pretty good, with a bit of cinnamon, some nutmeg and some caramel. The taste is a bit different than the smell lead me to believe it would be. It was sweet, almost raisin, with a hint of Cinnamon on the background. I want to like this beer, but it seems to sweet to be a winter warmer style beer. 

All that said, I would suggest you give it a try too. I will be drinking this one again, but probably not to try and keep warm.

Yuengling in Cincinnati?

As I was doing my daily reading of news off of the internet, I came across an interesting article that, as a Cincinnatian, I thought was very intriguing. If you are from Cincinnati, or live here now, you probably are aware that we cannot get Yuengling, America's oldest brewery, beer in this area. Well, according to this particular article, that may soon change:

Yuengling beer eyes Cincinnati

No matter what your thoughts are on this beer, this is a good thing. Even folks who drink "beer" (Beer made by one of the big 3) enjoy Yuengling. I feel that this will only help expand the beer scene here locally and hopefully bring more people in to the enjoyment of craft beer.

Arnold's 150th Anniversary/ Christian Moerlein 'Arnold's 1861 Porter' Release party

For those of who will have recuperated from a late night of celebrating the new year, on Saturday, January 1, Christian Moerlein and Arnold's will be hosting a very special birthday, Arnold's 150th year in operation! Don't worry though, if you partied to hard bringing in the new year, this birthday party doesn't start until 6:00pm. In order to celebrate, Christian Moerlein is releasing a new porter in honor of this accomplishment. Here are the full event details:

On New Years Day, Saturday January 1st, Arnold’s and Christian Moerlein are having a Birthday Bash to honor Arnold’s 150th year of continuous operation. We are more than honored to announce that this will also be the release of Arnold’s 1861 Porter, the first beer brewed in Christian Moerlein’s new Brewery in Over The Rhine. We are not shooting for some fancy-shmancy anniversiary party. We want to have a blowout for everyone. For this duel event, 12 oz drafts are just 1.50 in honor of our 150th year. Keeping with the 1.50 theme Arnold’s will also have a 1.50 specials menu. On the menu, hamburgers, veggie burgers, french fries, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Vegetarian Spaghetti and Marinara. That is not a typo, all will be just 1.50. You can effectively get an entire gut-busting meal and several craft beers for under ten bucks. Oh, and did I mention? Free Cake! A Birthday party is nothing without free cake. Keeping with the party theme, The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs are on stage from 8-10 singing all the drinking songs that they are known so well for. This is just an event for Cincinnati’s oldest tavern to say Thank You to Cincinnati for keeping this old codger around so long. So please come celebrate with us. For those that can’t wait for the new beer, we also will be making it available at midnight on New Years Eve at the stroke of Midnight, for the same 1.50 special price.

Lukcy 13asartd Ale

I owe my first steps in to craft brews to Stone Brewing Co., so I often have a soft spot for their beers. In case you are wondering what I am talking about, my first true craft brew was Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewing Co, when I was just over 21 years of age.

That being said, when I heard Stone had released another variation of Arrogant Bastard, I knew I had to try it. This new variation is called Lukcy 13asrtd and at it's essence is a combining of the original Arrogant Bastard with it's other tasty variations, Oaked Arrogant Bastard and the Double Bastard, but with an additional Dry Hopping.

This beer is phenomenal, in my opinion. As stated already, Arrogant Bastard opened my eyes to craft beers; this beer helped me solidify my desire to search out new craft beers. True to it's predecessor, Lukcy 13asartd truly challenges the palate. This beer is hoppy to the core. When you smell this beer, it smells like a pine forest has assaulted your nose. The taste is much the same, with a hint of the Bastards in the background, challenging you to question their awesomeness. As I drank this beer, I realized I am not able to take on the Bastards, but at the same time, I cannot quit. I must drink this beer! It challenges me with it's hoppiness, but it's a pain that I want more of! I can't quit drinking this assault on my palate; I cannot give in!

In other words, I greatly enjoyed this beer! If you enjoy hops, this one will be a real treat to you!

Cincinnati Brewing History

I've been wanting to write about the history of Cincinnati Brewing for awhile, but just couldn't quite figure out what to write about. However, if you follow Cincinnati Twitters (tweeters?), Cincinnati blogger, or Cincinnati Beer Bloggers (such as myself) you've probably already heard that Christian Moerlein has been working on brining back a little bit of history to the Cincinnati area in the form of brewing. As of yesterday morning, Cincinnati Business Courier and Urban Cincy are reporting that Moerlein owner, Greg Hardman, has done just that, brought a piece of history back to Cincinnati, brewing in Over the Rhine. (yes, I know Sam Adams is brewed here in Cincy too, but that's not the point of today's blog). If you want to read more about the new beer being brewed and the new brewery, check out the articles: http://www.urbancincy.com/2010/12/beer-is-brewing-in-historic-over-the-rhine-once-again/, http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2010/12/17/christian-moerlein-brews-new.html.

I have always had a special interest in the brewing history in Cincinnati, but never knew much about it. To be perfectly honest, I only really cared about two breweries in particular, the Germania Brewery and the Wetterer Brewery, both of which were owned by my ancestors (according to my research). However, after I found this out, I began trying to find more information on my great great grandfathers breweries and came across a lot of interesting pieces of information- Brewing in Cincinnati wasn't a small scale operation before prohibition. In fact, Cincinnati was one of the largest brewing cities!

I still had a hard time finding  a lot of information, mainly because I didn't have a lot of time to go down and dig through city records. That being said, a couple of months ago, I was at a Beer Dinner sponsored by Christian Moerlein in which the guest speaker was Mike Morgan. Mike is an author and recently wrote a book called, "Over the Rhine: When Beer was King". If you have not read this book, do yourself a favor and go get it! (If you a history buff, Cincinnati buff, or a beer buff, it's a must read).

This book was awesome. Mike does a great job talking about the history of Cincinnati and the role beer played in shaping this great city. He does a great job of talking about how the city, specifically Over the Rhine, grew to be a tremendous brewing district in the history of our country. The book goes in to details about how all the breweries back before prohibition were crucial to the livelihood of the area (though he does not argue that it's for better or worse). It talks about some the areas best known brewers and the impact they had on the community. Best (or worst) of all, it talks about how beer was the political motivator behind many of early Cincinnati's politics, so much so that many people tried to get it banned over the years. Obviously, Prohibition would eventually win out on a National level, which all but destroys the breweries in Cincinnati.

This book talks about the hardships of early settlers to the area, their growth and triumph, how beer played a role in all of this, and ultimately beer's collapse and the impact that had on society. I loved reading this book; I recommend it to all of you.

Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King (OH)

Infinium

If you are a beer fan, or a beer geek, or a beer snob, you've probably been hearing about a new beer from Sam Adams and Weihenstephen. This collaboration beer says that it will feature over 1,000 years of brewing tradition as it combines the oldest brewery skills with the largest American owned breweries innovation. If you somehow missed the hype about this beer, where have you been?

If you've read anything about this beer, you've probably heard that this beer is supposedly going to replace your champagne, or bubbly if you prefer, this New Years. That's quite a tall task for a beer since bubbly has been the tradition for many years. Can Sam Adams brew something that will live up to the hype?

I grabbed a bottle of this very hyped beer from a local eccentric grocery store in the Cincinnati area, Jungle Jim's. The first thing that grabs your attention is the bottle itself. For a beer, it's very elaborate, and it certainly remains you of a champagne bottle more than a craft beer. The next thing I noticed was the price. At $19.99, this wasn't exactly an inexpensive beer. (I rarely think about the price of a beer, but, to me, this was about as high of a price as I've ever paid for one bottle).

As for the beer itself, it poured a golden copper color with a very large, white, bubbly head. Upon smelling the beer, it smelled exactly like I thought, champagne. I definitely smelled a sweetness to this beer that seemingly came from white grapes. It smelled delicious. The taste, however, was not quite what the smelled lead me to believe. I definitely tasted a bit of spiciness to this beer, though I couldn't quite place it. I also noticed a bit of citrus flavor as I kept drinking. To my disappointment, I couldn't quite taste the white grapes that I smelled. The aftertaste of this beer certainly did fit the description that it was a champagne beer though.

Overall, I enjoyed this beer. Just like champagne though, you cannot have this beer for just any ole' occasion. This beer should be reserved for those special nights that you would drink champagne - New Year's Eve and weddings.

Tickets on Sale Now - Cincy Winter Beerfest

Tickets are now on sale for the 2011 Winter Cincy Beerfest to be held at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Better yet, if you buy your tickets now, you will get VIP tickets for only $30, a savings of $20 off the normal VIP price. This ticket will get you in early, and an actual glass (and not just a tasting glass). See below for more information straight from www.cincybeerfest.com

4th Annual Cincy Winter Beerfest EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Get VIP for the price of General - just $30! - ends 12/25 In addition to the opportunity to enjoy 150 craft beers, VIP's get: -Early admission by one hour at 6:30PM. -A larger, real glass - nearly double the sampling size of general ticket-holders. Friday's Grand Tasting Feb 11, 2011 7:30PM to 11PM $30 in advance; $40 at door Friday VIP Feb 11, 2011 6:30PM to 11PM $40 in advance; $50 at door Saturday's Grand Tasting Feb 12, 2011 7:30PM to 11PM $30 in advance; $40 at door Saturday VIP Feb 12, 2011 6:30PM to 11PM $40 in advance; $50 at door 2-Night VIP $60 in advance Designated Driver tickets: $10 Last call at 10:30PM. Event ends at 11PM.

The beer list for 2011 is still being finalized, but if it's anything like last year's fest, it will surely not disappoint!
I know I will be there, how about you?

Confessions of a craft beer drinker

For some time now I have known that I like craft beer. I don't remember the exact day it happened, but I do remember the very first truly craft beer I had was, back when I had just turned 21. The beer that lead me to join this revolutios was Arrogant Bastard. I remember being intrigued by the name of this beer, so I had to give it a try. I know, some of you are saying to yourself, "Why did he choose Arrogant Bastard as his first craft beer? Is he nuts?!?" Well, the answer seems to be yes.

That arrogant bastard made me realize what a "real" beer should taste like. For once, I felt like I wasn't drinking something light and fizzy. This beer actually had taste! I don't recall how I reacted to the first taste of the beer (as those who have tried the bastard know, it is on the bitter side) but I know it must have been enjoyable! 

Since that day, I have been searching out and finding craft beers, from the local brew pubs, to brand new breweries in other states, and everything in between. I recently decided that I want to try all the beers I can get my hands on. Sure, this could be an easy task, just go to my local store, pick up what's available and call it a day, but I don't feel that this in the true spirit of enjoying craft beer. I have my staples that I truly do enjoy, but if I stopped trying new beers, then I would never had a chance to enjoy some really great beers from some really great people!

I know every craft beer drinker is different and I know not everyone will want to travel around searching for beers they can't get locally, but I would say to anyone who is a "craft beer enthusiast" to go out and try new beers. Make sure to support your localy brewers along the way, but go exploring to new areas. Who knows what might happen; you may end up discovering something you love!

Far away Friday

I have decided that I would start talking about places I visit when they involve good beer. I happen to be in Sevierville, TN, for the Thanksgiving holiday. For those that don't know, Sevierville is essentially Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Regardless, there is a local brewery that I have decided to visit tonight.

The local brewery is the Smoky Mountain Brewery which is found in Pigeon Forge, TN,  as well as Gatlinburg and Knoxville.I took a trip over to the brewery/ restaurant to enjoy some brews. Upon sitting down, I thought it best to try the sampler of all there beers ($8/ 10 4oz samples). The beers included an American Light, a Pale Ale, an IPA, a Harvest Ale, Porter, Brown Ale, and wheat beer. In all, this brewery is pretty good.  I enjoyed most of the beers (the light ale taste like one would expect a light would and, therefore, didn't thrill me; the wheat beer was, unfortunately, skunked) but my favorite of the night was the Pale Ale. The pale had a nice bit of hops to it, but was very enjoyable to drink.

I recommend this place if you are ever in the area. It's not going to be wow the most extreme beer geek, but it's a nice place to sit down and enjoy some beers. They even have live music on Friday nights.

Winter Cincy Beerfest

From Facebook:

CINCY WINTER BEERFEST - 4TH ANNUAL
Host: Cincy Beer Festivals!

Time and Place Time: Fri Feb 11, 11 at 6:30 pm until Sat Feb 12, 11 at 11:00 pm

Venue: Duke Energy Convention Center

Description Cincinnati's Original Beerfest!tm The One that started it all. We're back and bigger & better than ever. Proceeds again benefit the Big Joe Duskin Music Education Foundation and its mission to get area schoolchildren excited about playing musical instruments. After selling out every year, we've have made the Big Jump (some would say huge) across the street from the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati OVER TO The Duke Energy Convention Center. And we've arranged with the Center to do a Beerfest exactly how we do them! Great bands, really great craft beers, and volunteers running the event. TICKETS WILL GO ON SALE DECEMBER 1....SO GET YOURS AS THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT!

See the event info here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147963451917627

I'll post more info as I get it!

Brewmasters

Did you catch the premiere of Discovery Channel's new show, Brewmaster? Well, I did and I have to say, I thoguht it was great!

In case you haven't heard, Brewmasters is a new show featuring the guys over at Dogfish Head and shares their story. SamCalagione (founder and President of Dogfish Head brewery) is the real star of the show, but he brings his "off centered" employees into the show as well to make for great television.

The first episode of Brewmasters talks about Sam and his decision to work on the Bithces Brew in honor of the rerelease of the Miles Davis Album of the same name. Sam does a great job talking about why he is passionate about this project and what great things he expects from this beer. He challenges his staff with this beer, but they answer the call. I don't want to ruin the show, in case you haven't seen it yet, but suffice it to say, this show is going to be awesome.

Great work Sam, Dogfish Head, and Discovery for making an awesome show! I can't wait to see the rest of the season!

Homebrew - Smoked Porter Tasting

Well, it's finally ready! That's right, the Smoked Porter that I talked about a few weeks ago is finally ready for a tasting, so that's exactly what I did!

When I made this beer, I was looking for something with just a bit of smokiness to help take the chill out of those cold winter days,. I had debated on a stout, but finally settled on this beer; I am glad I did.

The beer poured pitch black with a thick, brown head. Even before I smelled or tasted the beer I knew this was going to warm me up. The smell was of a bit of chocolate with just a hint of the smokiness I was looking for. I am not sure how to describe this, but I also seemed to be able to smell the creaminess of this beer before I tasted it. That said, there was a nice creaminess to the taste. It definitely had chocolate and a nice smoked flavor to it.I greatly enjoyed this beer!

Pictures to follow.

 I feel that my friends and I's homebrew skills continue to evolve. We are making very tasty brews and continue to work on perfecting our skills. Next time out, we are going to start changing parts of the recipe so that we can truly have our own beer. Bourbon Brown Ale or Chocolate Chipolte Stout anyone?

Brewery Tour

A few weeks ago I made mention that I had gone down to North Carolina and participated in the World BeerFest in Durham. I also mentioned that I met some really cool brewers. I talked to this guys about their beer and about what inspired them. I was also able to get some picks of one of the breweries while I was there. I don't have may; you will have to forgive me for that as I did not get to the brewery until after the World BeerFest (meaning I already had had several beers at the event, as well as the attached pub before the tour).

While down in North Carolina, I got a chance to see the behind the scenes at FullSteam Brewery. This is an interesting place - big open warehouse feel for the bar, with the brewery visible to all the patrons. There was live music when we were there amd several beers on tap. After having drank most of the day already, I only tried the Sweet Potato Lager. Tasty brew, with a hint of sweet potato, as the name would suggest.

The guys at FullSteam were great. They had a very nice brewery. They even had a 5 gallon batch test area homebrew kit, where they tried new beer ideas.

As for the brewery, here are some photos:

Improvements

Hey all, I am trying to make some improvements and will be updating soon. Didn't want you to think I'd gone anywhere.

Beer Review - Breckenridge Christmas Ale

IIt's time for another beer review. This time I will be reviewing the Breckenridge Christmas Ale. As I've said a couple of times before, I love this time of year because of these types of beer.

This beer pours a dark brown in color with a decent white head. I notice a bit of a dark fruit and chocolate smell on this one with maybe a hint of Cinnamon in the background. The cinnamon flavor comes out a bit more in the taste of the beer, but surprisingly, I don't get a tremendous amount of flavor. I also get notes of the chocolate and dark fruits again. The more I drink, the more obvious the flavor becomes, but this beer just seems to be more watery than it should be.

This is a good beer and I would drink it again, but I am certainly not going out of my way to find it. What do you think?

New features

I have added a calendar to the website. I will begin adding events to the calendar, but it's going to take some time to implement all of this since, as of now, I am the only one adding things. If you notice that I missing events, please let me know so I can add them.

Hudepohl Amber Lager Turkey Trot

They say that the day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest bar nights of the year and the folks over at Hudepohl have decided to have a little fun with this in 2010. On Thanksgiving Eve, the guys over at Hudepohl are inviting everyone out for a night of Turkey Trotting in Over the Rhine. As they say, "It's not a crawl. It's a pilgrimage." See the attached link for me information.

Time	Wednesday, November 24 at 8:00pm - November 25 at 1:00am
Location	rnold’s Bar & Grill, Neon’s Unplugged, JP’s Drinkery, MOTR Pub, and Milton’s The Prospect Hill Tavern
Created By	Hudepohl Amber Lager
More Info	Arnold’s Bar & Grill, Neon’s Unplugged, JP’s Drinkery, MOTR Pub, and Milton’s The Prospect Hill Tavern present the 2010 Thanksgiving Eve Turkey Trot. Free shuttle between bars from 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. NO COVER - BAR SPECIAL $2 Hudepohl Amber Lager bottles at each bar – turkey trotters will each receive punch card that can be stamped at each bar for a reward of a free 2010 Thanksgiving Eve Turkey Trot T-Shirt, which can be redemmed at Arnold’s Bar & Grill. Special appearances by HAL the Super Turkey Hudepohl Amber Lager Turkey Trot

Beer Review - Great Divide Hibernation Ale

It's time for me to drink more beer. Today I have decided to try the Hibernation Ale by Great Divide. This beer is an English style Old Ale.

The pour of this beer is dark brown with a medium sized, tan head. I smell caramel and chocolate on this one. I also smell a touch of coffee in the background. Taste is very much the same, caramel, chocolate, a touch of coffee. As I continue to drink, I notice some dark fruits in there as well, raisin and the like.

This is an enjoyable beer. It's great drink this since it's cold outside. What do you think?

Tooting my own horn

I have decided to toot my own horn today. I won't normally do this, but I decided to this time.

Now, with that out of the way, here's why: I just got some notes back from someone regarding two homebrews that I either made or helped beersupporterJT make. As a homebrewer, I make beer that I want to drink and my friends will want to drink. However, it's always nice to get feedback from someone who sells beer for a living.

Here's the scoop: I brought a couple of bottles of my homebrew down to the World BeerFest earlier this year. I shared these bottles with a distributor to get their opinion. (Ok, I'll admit, my brother works for this distributor, so the view may be skewed, but I feel he was very honest in his assessment.) I asked them to review my beer and let me know what they think. Below is the assessment of a cream ale and a pale ale:

CREAM ALE
    Creamy nose
    Light carbonation
    Little head
    Top of mouth, no tongue
    True to style
    Little bit of citrus feel
    Overall B+

Pale Ale
    Good carbonation
    Great head
    Carbonation in nose
    Excellent mouth feel and body
    Bitter but not to hoppy
    Good color
    Overall A-


So, there you have it. I was happy that I made beer that not only I liked and my friends liked, but that folks who drink a lot of different beers also liked.


Now, back to your regular blogs. 

Christkindl Tapping Pictures

Today I had the opportunity to go to the tapping of the Christian Moerlein Christkindl Ale. The event was held at Christy's in Clifton; this building was originally given to Christian Moerlein's daughter as a wedding gift. What a great place to hold a tapping for a Christian Moerlein beer!

Christkindl Keg

 The event was a very cool event, literally. It was held outside in the biergarten and it was only about 40 degrees in the sun. However, there was plenty of beer to be drank, which helped all forget about the cool temperature. Mike Morgan, author of "Over-the-Rhine: When Beer was King" was the events emcee and did a great job getting everyone ready for the event. Greg Hardmann spoke a little bit about the history of Christy's and share a bit about the beer too. The tapping was done by a member of the St Francis Seraph, with $1 of all beers sold going to their ministry. In all, it was a very fun event. 

Greg Hardmann with the mallet of tapping

Keg has been tapped! Let there be beer!

Christkindl tapping - 11/6

Tomorrow, Christian Moerlein will be tapping the Christkindl Winter Ale at Christy's in Clifton:

Christian Moerlein November 5 at 1:27pm Reply • Report

Hello beer lovers!

Tomorrow at 1 p.m sharp the tapping of the seasonal Moerlein Christkindl Winter Warmer Ale will take place at Christy's Bier Garten by Brother Tim Sucher of St. Francs Seraph Ministry - $1 from every beer purchase will benefit the Christmas fund.

Christy's will have special food available for purchase - this event will go from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Hope to see everyone out and about!

CM

ABOUT THE KEG TAPPING
More Info Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. is pleased to announce in conjunction with Christy’s and Lenhardt's the Moerlein Christkindl Winter Warmer Ale keg tapping on Saturday November 6th, 1 - 4PM at Christy’s Biergarten in Clifton.

The honored tradition of the tapping of the keg will be held by Brother Tim Sucher of St. Francis Seraph Ministry commencing at 1PM, "We are honored to celebrate the new release of Moerlein Christkindl in the spirit of the holiday season," said Brother Tim Sucher of St. Francis Seraph Ministry. $1 from every pint sold that day will go towards St. Francis Seraph Ministry's Christmas Fund.

The actual building of Christy’s was built as a wedding present for Christian Moerlein’s daughter in 1890.

Christy’s Biergarten will have a special happy hour with $3 pints of the new Moerlein Christkindl and a specially priced happy hour food menu, serving Bratts, Metts, Potato Pancake, German Potato Salad – Rueben and Sauerkraut Balls.

Author/ Brewers Dinner - a review

Tonight was the Brewer's/ Author's dinner for Christian Moerlein. This event was 2 of 6 total Brewer Dinner's that will be held to celebrate Christian Moerlein, Over the Rhine, and Mike Morgan's new Book, "Over the Rhine: When beer Was King".

This event was a very well done event. Upon arriving, I took my seat at a table and began to talk to my friends about beer. We received a pleasant treat as we found out that Little King's Cream Ale was a pre-event taster, and boy was it delicioud. Once 7:00pm rolled around, the event began. Greg Hardman, CEO of Christian Moerlein began to talk about the history of how he acquired the Little King's Brand, a very interesting story. The staff at the Pub of Crestview began to bring out the appetized: Jerk Shrimp and Northern Liberties IPA. Boy, was this appetizer delicious. The shrimp was good and the IPA matched up nicely.

The second course was a salad with mandarin oranges paired with Christian Moerlein Lager House. The salad was sweet, but tasty. I am not much for mandarin oranges, but it paired well with the Helles. I enjoyed this dish.

The 3rd dish was a Mediterranean Slider with red peppers. I'll be honest, I enjoyed the think fries more than I enjoyed the sandwich. (I have no idea what the fries were made of, but they were delicious) The burger was made with goat cheese and red peppers and was only alright. This dish was paired with the Hudepohl Amber Lager. It was a good pairing.

The 4th Dish was fish and chips. I must confess, I may have ruined my palate on this one as I tend to only eat fish n chips with malt vinegar; tonight was no exception. The beer pairing was Moerlein's OTR which I have always enjoyed. Despite the vinegar, the beer paired nicely with the meal.

The final dish of the evening was a Jamaican cheesecake; bananas, banana liquor, and oreo crust made this delicious. The pairing was the Barbarosa. I'll be honest, I didn't think the pairing was all to good, but the cheesecake was delicious by itself as was the beer.

All in all, I had a great time. Both Greg Hardmann and Mike Morgan shared some great stories about Moerlein and the history of Cincinnati. There was still 4 of these dinner's left and I would recommend everyone go to one of them. Greg did take some time to visit each table and thank everyone who showed up and make sure they had a great time. I was very impressed by this event. Thanks to Christian Moerlein and Greg Hardman for a job well done. I look forward to future events!

I will follow up with pictures later.

Beer Review - Heavy Sea's Winter Storm

I decided to keep going with the winter ale tastings today. Today, I decided to try the Heavy Sea's Winter Storm. The bottle says it is a Category 5 ale, so let's try this out.

The beer pours amber in color with a small, slightly brown head. Smell is a bit of caramel, with a little bit of spice on the background. I believe there may also be some orange peel smell here as well. Taste is also of caramel, with a decent malty taste. It's got a nice hoppy background as well.

This one's enjoyable, but I don't think I'd be able to drink more than one in a night...

Have you tried this beer? What do you think?

Beer Review - Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

Where did the year go? I mean, Winter Ale's are already coming out?!? Last I noticed, it was still 90 degrees and sunny past 8pm, but now it's 30 over night and the sun sets at 6pm.... Before long, Christmas will be here and Old Man winter will be upon us.

With that said, I decided it was time to start drinking some seasonal beers! To start the Winter Season off right I have decided to try the Souther Tier's Old Man Winter. I tend to be a fan of Souther Tier, so I am hoping my assumption of this being enjoyable will hold true.

The beer pours dark brown in color with a slight tan head. Smell is pretty mild, but I do notice some caramel and a bit of hops. The taste, however, is very tasty. I taste a bit of a coffee flavor, with a bit of hops to top it off. Caramel is there as well. The more I drink, the more the caramel and hop flavor comes out.

This one is decent. I wouldn't mind drinking this one again.

What do you think?

Beer Review - O'Fallon 5 Day IPA

Tonight I have decided to try O'Fallon's 5 Day IPA. The beer pours an amber hazy color with a sizable white head. Smell is of a nice floral aroma, with a touch of citrus. Smell is nice, but mild.Taste does not seem to match the smell of this beer. I taste just a touch of the hop aroma that I smelled. There's a touch of what seems to be lemon in the background and maybe a bit of bread flavor. 

My honest opinion, this beer is only alright, definitely not something I would drink to often.

Have you tried this beer? What do you think?

Beer School - final thought

I mentioned several weeks ago that I had picked up a new book, "Beer School" written by the founders of Brooklyn Brewery, Tom Potter and Steve Hindy. I finally finished the book (hey, I am a slow reader) so I wanted to share my thoughts with you.

If you have ever considered going in to business for yourself, this is a must read. Even if you do not like beer, these 2 guys break down all the pressures, decisions, and all other obstacles they had while trying to get their brewery started. They were brutally honest in this book, I assume in effort to help other would be entrepreneurs understand the   They share what they hated and what they loved about being in a partnership.

If you start reading this book thinking it is going to be about beer, you will be disappointed. Sure, the book is about the starting of a brewery, but it's much more than that. This book provides great insight to the world of starting your own business.

I know what you are thinking, "Why is a beer blog talking about a book?" Well, it's my blog and it was a book that was suggested to me. I am glad I read this book. If you are interested in the history of Brooklyn Brewery, want to start your own business, or just like reading, I recommend this book.

Homebrew - Smoked Porter

In a previous post, I mentioned I loved to homebrew. I am still a "rookie" when it comes to brewing and I am only able to brew on occasion. That being said, my buddy and I like to try and brew as often as we can, which usually equates to about once a month. When we brew, we use kits, for now, but we hope to move up to all-grain brewing in the near future.

The most recent brewing excursion came a couple of weeks ago when we decided it was time to start thinking about a nice beer to help warm the blood in the cold winter months. After travelling to our local homebrew shop, we decided that a nice smoked porter would do the trick. So, we grabbed some supplies, headed home, and began to brew.

The brewing process itself is a little tedious for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I know the importance of the process and I have surely tasted it's results, but there is a lot of work to be done just so you can sit and wait and wait and wait for a finished product. In the case of the smoked porter, we had to be even more diligent in watching the pot as it boiled since it was very likely to boil over (which it almost did several times, even in oversized brewing pot). However, the smell was delicious as we waited for the hour to be over so we can put the beer into a fermenter. This was going to be an awesome beer.

Once brewing was complete, we quickly dropped the temperature of the wort and pitched the yeast and moved the smoked porter into a primary fermenter. There the beer sat not even a full 24 hours before it fermented so much that it had seeped through the air lock and onto the fermentation bucket. Thankfully, none of it seemed to have ruined and we were able to save the beer.

After a few weeks, we moved the beer into secondary to let it mellow out a bit more. After a few more weeks, we were finally ready to bottle. We prepared the bottles and the beer and boy did it smell great! Just knowing that in a few weeks I will be able to try another home made beer made me smile.

I will keep you posted on the results of my smoked porter. In the meantime, if you have any advice for someone trying to do an all grain batch, please share. I love the process of brewing and would love to be able to fully create a truly unique beer for myself and for my friends.

Author/ Brewers Dinner

I heard about this event a few days ago and felt I needed to share. There are actually several of these Author/ Brewer Dinners going on, but this is the one I will be at. 

Join Mike Morgan, author "Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King" and CEO of Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, Greg Hardman for a scrumptious dinner with beer pairings.

A short introduction will be led by both gentleman taking diners on a historical journey of Cincinnati beer history.

Click on photo below for full menu 

The beers being served are:
1. Moerlein Northern Liberties IPA
2. Helles
3. OTR
4. Hudepohl Amber Lager
5. Barbarossa Double Dark Lager

Price is $35 per person. Limited space available. For Reservations please call (859) 426-7827

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112112358850822

Stone Smoked Porter Review

The weather is starting to change here in Cincinnati, which for me means it is time to start enjoying more Porters and Stouts! Tonight, I thought it would be good to start with the Stone Smoked Porter.

As one would probably imagine, this porter pours a very dark brown, almost black. There is a nice thick, tan head that goes along with the color of the beer. I smell just a touch of smokiness to this one, just a bit of a bacon smell. I also note a hint of chocolate there as well. The smell is certainly not overwhelming, in fact, it leaves a little bit to be desired. T

As for the taste, it is more flavorful than the smell would lead me to believe. I can definitely taste smokiness in this beer and the chocolate flavor I smelled only compliments it. As I continue to drink, I get taste of coffee on the very back of my palate.

Overall, I like this beer, but I would not go out of my way to find one. This is enjoyable to drink while enjoying a nice fall night.

What are your thoughts? 

World Beer Fest

Well, I have been out the past few weeks, so I have not had a chance to blog for awhile. However, I just came back from the World Beer Fest so I will share my thoughts on that.

If you have not been down to the World Beer Fest, it is a great time. The event usually takes place the first weekend in October and brings in hundreds of brewers and thousands of people. They have live music, plenty of food, class room style sessions to learn about beer, and of course plenty of beer itself.

Most of the beer from the world beerfest comes from the North Carolina area, since the event is held in Durham (there is one in Raleigh too, in the spring) which is a great for me, as I cannot usually get many of these beers back home in Ohio. Just like any beerfest, you have to pace yourself and try only a small percentage of the number of beers avauilable. (trying to drink them all would be impossible). So, I tend to focus on beers I cannot get back home.

It's also a great time, since you can usually get a chance to talk to some of the brewers, despite the large crowd. This year I was able to talk to some of the guys who brew Fullsteam and Roth Beers, which was a great time since they are both fairly new brewers.

I recommend you check this event out. Sadly, I did try so many beers, I am not sure I remember what I had. I should have brought my notebook so I could tell you all about the great beer. Regardless, check this event out.

Great Lakes Oktoberfest

It's time for another beer review. This time around I have decided to try the Great Lakes Oktoberfest. Since it's Oktoberfest season, I thought this was only fitting.

This one pours dark amber, with 1" head. The smell has a hint of caramel and somewhat of a biscuit or bread background. Taste is much the same: a hint of caramel, and sweet bread with just a touch of what I believe to be orange and maybe a slight bit of banana. The carbonation is good on this bottle and the flavor makes me think of fall (which, in my mind, is a good thing). I do enjoy this beer. I'd say about 4.2 out of 5.

If you've had this beer, do you agree?

Beer School

I ordered a book the other day that was recommended to me by my brother. He suggested that I pick up Beer School by Steven Hindy and Tom Potter. If you are a really big beer fanatic, you might recognize these two names as the founders of Brooklyn Brewery. I picked up this book because my brother thought it would be a great read and told me it was a great story about how those two guys started Brooklyn Brewery as well as a great story about entrepreneurs. He was right.

I am only a few chapters in and already I can tell this will be a great story. In the first chapters, it talks about their brewery and how they came to decide to start on this venture. I won't give anything away, but it's a very interesting story, one that probably every entrepreneur has. I definitely recommend checking this one out.

As I progress through the book, I will share my thoughts with you. In the meantime, make sure to check out the blog for more beer info.

Homebrew

I love creating homebrew. In homebrewing, you can develop any kind of beer you want, and it's exactly that, the beer you create. You can be as extreme as you want, or as tame as you want when you home brew.

Cincinnati BeerFest

Hey Cincinnatians, this weekend is the Cincinnati BeerFest on Fountain Square. The party starts Friday and goes until Sunday.
Event times are:
Friday, September 10: 6-11pm
Saturday, September 11: Noon - 11pm
Sunday, September 12: Noon - 9pm
Fountain Square :: Cincinnati Beer Fest :: Friday-Sunday, September 10-12, 2010

The event is free to attend with each 3oz tasting costing just $1. 

Hoppin Frog Turbo Shandy

I have decided that I also need to give you my opinions on the beers that I try as I try them. I will give you my first impressions of whatever beer I am reviewing at the time. Today I am reviewing Hoppin' Frogs Turbo Shandy. I picked up this bottle just two days ago.

The first thing I noticed from this beer was that it has a nice golden color with a little haziness. The aroma is that of light lemon and just a hint of orange. As I take a second whiff of this beer I also notice a touch of grapefruit. The taste  is strong in the forefront with grapefruit and a pretty highly carbonated mouthfeel. The next sip I notice a bit more of orange flavor, but grapefruit still seems to dominate the palate. The lemon flavor just barely peaks out from behind the other two flavors, but I can taste it slightly. There is also a very small touch of tangerine hiding in the back of this beer, barely noticeable. After drinking a few more sips of this beer, I finally start to notice more of the lemonade flavor that the smell would seem to indicate.

I opened this beer thinking it would be great after a hot day, but sadly, I cannot say I enjoyed this beer to much. 

Let me know what you think! Do you agree/disagree with me? Tell me.

Doing some cleaning

I was looking through some photos on my blackberry today when I came across some photos that I had forgotten about. The photos are of some old school Hudy Delight bottles and cans. If you haven't tried anything from Hudepohl, you're missing out, and, at least the can picture, shows the pride they have in Cincinnati.

I have always heard about these beers growing, but had never tried them, until it was re released about a year or two ago. You sometimes hear stories about your parents as kids or as young adults that involve their friends, favorite sports teams, or family, but the stories I heard also included Hudy.

I am glad I found these photos as it brings back some memories of stories I have heard, mostly involving Hudy and the Big Red machine (take a look at the can. On another note, they recently recognized those recently inducted to the Reds Hall of Fame with a can of their own). I hope the "new" Hudy will help me create some new memories.

Breweries Named for Cincinnati Beer Festival on Fountain Square

So the Hoperatives folks have compiled a list of the breweries that will be present at the Beer Festival on Fountain Square September 10,11, 12 Breweries Named for Cincinnati Beer Festival on Fountain Square. Thanks for sharing guys.

Oktoberfest

It's that time of year here in Cincinnati, Oktoberfest. This time of year is one of my favorites, German food, German music, and of course, German beer. Here in Cincinnati we know how to celebrate Oktoberfest with plenty of Beer and Sauerkraut each an every weekend. If you are looking to go out and enjoy one of the many festivals, here's one this week:

Germania Society Oktoberfest: August 27-29. Friday runs from 6pm-midnight, Saturday 2pm-midnight, and Sunday noon-10pm. The address: 3529 West Kemper RoadCincinnati, Ohio 45251

Here I am

Make sure to join me as I discuss whatever I feel like relating to beer and other topics of interest. It's going to be a fun ride.